Many Threads, Many Colors

North America:

Many Threads,

Many Colors

In the foreign-owned factories known as maquiladoras, such as this textile plant in Mexico, workers are not covered by stringent regulations on wages, taxes, health, or safety. Some observers argue that the factories are modern-day sweatshops, while others say that they help increase the standard of living in the impoverished border areas.

Photo: Jerry Markatos/CLACS (Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University)

Coverage of Schoolcraft’s Focus North America project begins on page 4.

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

International Institute (SCII)

Schoolcraft College Published once per semester by 18600 Haggerty Road the International Institute (SCII) Livonia, MI 48152-2696 http://www.schoolcraft.edu/scii Founding Editor: Donald Ryktarsyk (Business Dept.) The mission of the Schoolcraft College International Institute Editorial Committee: is to coordinate cross-cultural learning opportunities for Chair: Randy K. Schwartz (Mathematics Dept.) students, faculty, staff, and the community. The Institute Sumita Chaudhery (English Dept.) strives to enhance the international content of coursework, Helen Ditouras Gordy (English Dept.) programs, and other College activities so participants better Wayne Glass (Director of Grants) appreciate both the diversities and commonalities among Linda Vesely-Gutierrez (Sociology Dept.) world cultures, and better understand the global forces Josselyn Moore (Anthropology/ Sociology Depts.) shaping people’s lives. Padmaja Nandigama (Psychology Dept.) Robert Oxley (Philosophy/ Political Science Depts.) SCII Administrative Director: Sandy Roney-Hays (Anthropology/ Sociology Depts.) Assoc. Dean Cheryl Hawkins (Liberal Arts Divn.) Karen Schaumann-Beltrán (Sociology Dept.) Anita Süess Kaushik (French/ German/ Italian Depts.) SCII Faculty Co-Chairs: Josselyn Moore (Anthropology/ Sociology Depts.) e-mail: [email protected] Helen Ditouras Gordy (English Dept.)

voice: 734/ 462-4400 ext. 5290 Focus Series Coordinator: fax: 734/ 462-4531 Linda Vesely-Gutierrez (Sociology Dept.)

Material contained in International Agenda may be Representative to CCSCA (College Consortium reproduced or quoted provided that the source is credited. for Socio-Cultural Awareness): Sam Hays (English Dept.) Archives are available at the SCII website, http://www.schoolcraft.edu/scii/publications.asp GlobalEYEzers Coordinators:

Anna Maheshwari (English Dept.) Sandy Roney-Hays (Anthropology/ Sociology Depts.) SCII Meeting Schedule Review Committee for International Course Designation: International Institute meetings are open to all who Christa Cipparone (Learning Support Services) want to learn or to help out. New folks are always Sam Hays (English Dept.) welcome. Meetings are generally on Fridays at 12 – Laura Leshok (Counseling Dept.) 2 pm in the Liberal Arts Building. Upcoming Diane O’Connell (Geography Dept.) meetings are as follows: Sandy Roney-Hays (Anthropology/ Sociology Depts.)

• January 21, 2011 • March 18, 2011 Global Endorsement Assessment Task Force: • February 18, 2011 • May 13, 2011. Chair: Robert Oxley (Philosophy/ Political Science Depts.) Sumita Chaudhery (English Dept.)

Helen Ditouras Gordy (English Dept.) MIIIE March Conference in Florida Sandy Roney-Hays (Anthropology/ Sociology Depts.) Faye Schuett (English Dept.) The Schoolcraft College International Institute Karen Schaumann-Beltrán (Sociology Dept.) cordially invites you to join us at the upcoming 18th Annual Conference of the Midwest Institute for GlobalEYEzers, a group affiliated with SCII, International/ Intercultural Education (MIIIE). The invites instructors, staff, students, and community conference will be held March 25-26, 2011 at members to participate in lunchtime discussions Edison State College in Ft. Myers, FL. This about current events in a global context, with ethnic gathering will draw participants from throughout the food provided. Meetings are generally on Fridays Midwest and beyond. at 12 – 2 pm in the Liberal Arts Building. Upcoming meetings are as follows: For more information, contact Helen Ditouras, our • February 4, 2011 LA-440 MIIIE representative, at 734-462-4400 extn. 5647, • March 11, 2011 LA-200. or [email protected]. You’ll also be able to download the registration forms and other For more information, contact Anna Maheshwari at information at http://orgs.kvcc.edu/midwest. [email protected] or 734-462-4400 x5296.

2 Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 remember all of it, he wasn’t even German, but my mother’s arm—

that capable arm—was severed at the shoulder, made (a single Bicameral shot) a strange thing altogether. Meat. I haven’t been able since by Linda Gregerson to think the other way is normal, all 1 these arms and legs.

This living-in-the-body-but-not-of-it. Choose any angle you like, she said, the world is split in two. On one side, health 3 and dumb good luck (or money, which can pass for both), and elsewhere . . . well, Sisal, lambswool, horsehair, hemp. they’re eight days from the nearest town, The weaver and her coat-of-many harrowings. the parents are frightened, they think it’s their fault, If fiber found in situ, in the child isn’t able to suck. A thing agave, say, the living cells that drink so easily mended, provided and turn the sun to exoskeleton, you have the means. I’ve always thought it was is taken from the body that odd, this part (my nursing school in part it constitutes (the embryology), this cleft in the world succulent or mammal and its ex- that has to happen and has to heal. At first quisite osmotics), is the first division, then the flood of them, then then carded, cut, dissevered the migratory plates that make a palate when in one fashion or another from they meet (and meeting, divide the family of origin, and the chambers, food gathered on a loom, from air). The suture through which (the upper the body it becomes will ever lip) we face the world. It falls bind it to the human and a trail a little short sometimes, as courage does. of woe. Or so Bolivia once, in May (I’d volunteer the garment argues. These on my vacations), and the boy was nine. were hung as in an abattoir. I know the world has harsher Immense (12 feet and more from upper things, there wasn’t a war, there wasn’t cables to the lowest hem). And vascular, malice, I know, but this one slit, with labial broke me down. They brought him in protrusions, skeins of fabric like with a bag on his head. It was intestines on the gallery floor. burlap, I think, or sisal. Jute. And beautiful, you understand. They hadn’t so much as cut eyeholes. As though a tribe of intimates (the coronary plexus, said the weaver) had 2 been summoned (even such (Magdalena Abakanowicz) a thing the surgeon sometimes has

Because the outer layer (mostly copper to stitch) to tell us, not unkindly, See, with a bit of zinc) is good for speed the world you have to live in is but does too little damage (what the world that you have made. is cleaner in the muzzle—you’ve begun to understand—is also cleaner in the flesh), the British at Dum Dum (Calcutta) devised Linda Gregerson (born August 5, 1950) is a an “open nose”, through which Professor of English at the University of the leaden core, on impact, greatly Michigan, where she teaches creative writing, expands (the lead being softer). Hence American poetry, and Renaissance literature. the name. And common enough in Warsaw decades later (it was 1943), despite This poem is from her work Magnetic North, some efforts in The Hague. I don’t which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2007.

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 North America: Many Threads, Many Colors

Throughout 2011, students, instructors, and staff might seem. Being an impartial and penetrating observer at Schoolcraft College will be taking steps to better requires some distance and reflection. As American understand the varied peoples, histories, and cultures anthropologist Ralph Linton (1893 - 1953) once put it, of North America, focusing especially on the U.S., “The last thing a fish would ever notice would be water.” Canada, and Mexico. That is why the perceptions and voices of “outsiders” about the United States— including those of

immigrants— will be especially important in this project. Since 2004, when our institute began to organize campus-wide, year-long programming on selected Furthermore—as was again the case in every cultural regions, we have pointed our lens outward, previous focus year— Focus North America is also an devoting focus years to the Middle East (twice), opportunity to learn about cultures other than “our own”. Latin America, Africa, Europe, East Asia, and South This is because one finds, in all of the countries of this Asia. This year, we are taking the unusual step of continent, some of the most multicultural societies on the training our sights upon the United States and its two planet. Mexico, the U.S., and Canada have extremely rich large neighbors. and conflict-riddled histories of interaction with indigenous peoples; histories of settlement by Europeans Why Study North America? and, in many cases, their African slaves; and histories of subsequent waves of immigration from all over the world. In the highly interwoven world that we inhabit today, This has created a social fabric and a political economy the issues that most directly affect us are no longer just that is diverse and complex. Today, almost every corner “about us”. of the continent exhibits a culture that is a grand synthesis, greater than the sum of its parts. A striking example of this occurred last July, when nearly 20,000 barrels of crude oil from a failed How You Can Participate underground pipeline leaked into the Kalamazoo River, fouling water supplies and aquatic wildlife in western Instructors and their classes can participate in Focus Michigan. It turned out that the pipe, while owned by a North America in a variety of ways. Houston-based energy firm, is part of a line that wends its way from the oilfields of Edmonton, Alberta to the Focus Series Coordinator Linda Gutierrez has played metropolis of Montreal, Quebec— by way of Chicago! the lead role in organizing a year-long series of campus One of the longest oil pipeline systems in the world, this speakers, films, and performances touching on a variety 3,300-mile line crosses the U.S.-Canada border twice, of topics related to the region. The entire faculty is urged first at Neche, ND and again at Sarnia, ONT. Who knew to recommend this series to students as an excellent way that oil from Alberta was being pumped through to gather insight and information. Some instructors might Michigan? want to require an entire class to attend a given talk; others might want to fold these talks into extra-credit Another good example is the burning controversy opportunities for their students. Contact Linda (734-462- over immigration. To really understand what underlies 4400 extn. 5067, [email protected]) to arrange to this issue, one has to know, for example, where the bring your whole class. Friends, family, and members of borders of the U.S. came from in the first place; why the community are also cordially invited to attend. Mexico and other countries have become locked into underdevelopment; the history of U.S. immigration policy The presentations this Winter (see Schedule on p. 6) and its current political and legal aspects; the efforts to get underway on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (Jan. 17) invest in and develop border areas; and the treaties and with a student art exhibit and poetry slam on the theme of trade pacts among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In other civil rights, social justice, and equality. Other parts of the words, the question of immigration in the U.S. is a series include a campus read of Thomas DeWolf’s book question about the whole continent and the whole world. in which he uncovers his family’s slave-trading history in early America; two films dealing with Native American As with every previous focus, the one this year is, in issues; and presentations and films promoting cultural part, a way to learn more about ourselves and about our appreciation and tolerance of Latino, Arab, Chaldean, and own country. Now we tackle the question in a more head- other immigrants and their descendants. More-detailed on way: what makes our culture uniquely “American”? schedules are available in dropboxes around campus, and Actually, it’s not as easy to learn about “oneself” as it are also being sent to faculty mailboxes and emailboxes.

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

A Fault-Line in the Americas

The southern border of the U.S. is a major fault-line: on one side stands the poverty and misery of a Third World country, on Linda the other side stands El Norte— two of the most powerful, Gutierrez introduces prosperous, industrialized countries on the planet. The conditions Dr. Hashim immediately north of the border aren’t much different than those Al-Tawil of to the south: in the unincorporated colonias of south Texas there Henry Ford are upwards of a million people who live in shantytowns, without Comm. Coll., running water or a decent infrastructure of sewers, roads, and who spoke schools. On both sides of the border several million workers, 80% about of them women, labor away in maquiladoras and other export- Islamic Art oriented factories run by U.S. or other multinational corporations, as part of where the wages are low, the health and safety measures are last year’s Focus flimsy— and the profits are very high. Middle East project. Some observers say that NAFTA— the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in Photo: 1992— has deepened the crisis of the Mexican economy. The Steven Berg. stated goal of the pact was to eliminate barriers on trade and investment among the three countries. This new freedom means, for instance, that the U.S. is allowed to sell (“dump”) excess corn in Mexico at cut-rate prices, thereby ruining tens of thousands of Instructors can also directly integrate topics small-scale farmers there. The gaping inequality underlying all of relevant to North American issues into their this is like a slap in the face: in the north there are mountains of coursework. Be creative in developing ideas and unwanted food, while across the border there is massive hunger. A materials for classroom presentations, course readings single grain elevator in Kansas can stockpile 21 million bushels, and assignments, student projects, etc. A few ideas: enough to feed all the peasants of Oaxaca for a whole year! • Instructors in Political Science 105 (Survey of American Government) could compare the With Mexico unable to feed its people or to offer a decent life, a huge surge of immigrants has streamed northward, and for the U.S. political system to those of Canada and first time more than half of them are without papers. Last April, Mexico in any of a number of dimensions, Arizona tried to enact a harsh new law against the illegal such as constitutional documents; domestic immigrants, including measures whereby police could check a political process; anti-poverty and welfare suspect’s legal status in the course of investigating an unrelated measures; the health care system; law infraction. That law has been challenged in court, but now similar enforcement and criminal justice systems; measures are being prepared in many other states. and policies toward native peoples. • In courses related to the environment, The Obama administration says that it has opted for a softer, geography, and natural resources, students gentler strategy to curtail the hiring of illegal immigrants, could be asked to investigate the considerable scouring companies’ employment records instead of launching factory and farm raids by agents from Immigration Customs and oil industry in Mexico; the special Enforcement (ICE). But such raids go on, even in a relatively environmental problems associated with oil liberal enclave like Ann Arbor, MI. In November, the Washtenaw extraction in places like the Gulf of Mexico Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights condemned ICE’s and the North Slope of Alaska; border/water “repeated raids” in and around Ann Arbor. The group knew of 14 issues and the Great Lakes; the effects of such local raids in one month alone, targeting mainly the Latino global warming in Greenland and other parts community and leading to detentions. of North America; or the phenomenon of environmental racism toward urban areas and Underlining the fact that even the better-off children of less-developed countries. immigrants face a precarious future, the Dream Act died in Congress last month. The proposed bill would have allowed • Students in English or Communications Arts Mexican and other immigrant students to earn legal status through classes could be invited to prepare persuasive education or military service. This includes persons who as essays or speeches that stake out a position children were brought to the U.S. by their undocumented parents, on a hot-button issue such as “post-racial” and who now as adults find that they, too, are undocumented politics, the English First movement, residents. Beyond that, Arizona is leading a coalition of states that immigration reform, the “mosque at Ground is pushing for a policy change to deny automatic citizenship to the Zero”, “Drill, baby, drill!”, or the NAFTA U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

treaty. —RKS continued on next page 5

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

Focus North America continued from page 5 Winter 2011 Schedule • Economics, business, marketing, and Mon. Jan. 17 (Martin Student art exhibit and (2-3 pm) poetry accounting classes could research trade and Luther King, Jr., Day) slam on the theme of civil rights, tariff issues in North America, differing tax 1:30 – 3 pm social justice, and equality. policies and accounting standards, MC-200 export/import methods, the supply chain, Film, "In Whose Honor?: American Indian Mascots in Sports" advertising techniques, and problems of Thur. Jan. 20 Award-winning documentary from Jay investment and development. 2:30 - 3:50 pm Rosenstein, followed by a discussion led • Art, music, and literature students could LA-200 by Karen Schaumann-Beltran and members of the Michigan Coalition investigate the styles and contributions of Against Racism in Sports and the African-American, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Media. Jamaican, Haitian, Mayan, Indian, Inuit, and Pageturners Book Club Thomas DeWolf, Inheriting the Trade: other artists. A Northern Family Confronts Its • Classes in U.S. history could take up the racial, Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading cultural, or international aspects of the Civil Dynasty in U.S. History and War, whose sesquicentennial is occurring in companion film by Katrina Browne, 2011. The Henry Ford is hosting two major “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Jan. 24 – Feb. 2 Deep North” related traveling exhibits: the Chicago Field Campus Read Discn. on Mon., Jan. 24 Museum’s exhibit on George Washington (6:30-7:30 pm, L-105) Discn. on Tues., Jan. 25 Carver (born into slavery c. 1860) continues (1:30-2:30 pm, L-105) through Feb. 27, 2011, while the National Discn. on Thur., Jan. 27 Archives exhibit on “Discovering the Civil (4:00-5:00 pm, RC-645) Film on Tues., Feb. 1 War” runs May 22 – Sep. 5, 2011. (6:00-8:00 pm, MC-210-B) • Anthropology instructors could focus extra Meet the Author on Wed. Feb. 2 attention on indigenous North Americans; the (1:15-2:15 pm, VT-550) Talk, “Tragedy in Arizona: Political history of their interaction with Europeans, Fri. Feb. 4 Climate and Ethnic Issues” including such examples as Jane Johnston 6:30 – 8:30 pm Roberto Rodriguez, Univ. of Schoolcraft (see pp. 8-11); and relevant VT-550 Arizona Dept. of Mexican American comparisons, such as between individualistic & Raza Studies Talk, “Promoting Cultural Appreciation and collectivist societies (see p. 13). Wed. Feb. 16 and Tolerance” 1 – 2:30 pm • Philosophy instructors could devote some time Radwan Khoury, Exec. Director, MC-200 to uniquely American schools of thought such Arab American Chaldean Council as Transcendentalism, Millerism and Panel discussion on immigration and Adventism, Social Darwinism, Pragmatism, on misperceptions about undocumented residents and American Exceptionalism. Wed. Mar. 23 David Koelsch, Detroit Mercy 11:30 am - 1 pm School of Law Many informational resources are available right on MC-200 Kevin Casillas, pastor and advocate, campus. Bradner Library has a variety of relevant books SW Detroit and periodicals, and the staff will be happy to introduce you Susan Reed, atty., Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and your students to them. For those preferring to surf, Film, “We Shall Remain: Wounded librarian Wayne Pricer has compiled webliographies under Wed. Mar. 30 Knee” such headings as “North American Studies”, “African 11:30 am - 1 pm A groundbreaking PBS mini-series that MC-200AD establishes native history as an American Studies”, “Underground Railroad”, essential part of American history. “Immigration”, “Globalization”, and “Gulf of Mexico Oil Talk, “Disproportionate Minority Spill”. These are available online at Mon. Apr. 11 Confinement” http://www.schoolcraft.edu/library/webliographies/. 11:30 am – 1 pm Francisco Villarruel, MSU Dept. of MC-200 Human Development & Family Studies And, as in the past, the GlobalEYEzers group invites Tues. Apr. 12 Poster display, “Life on Turtle Island: An instructors, staff, students, and community members to display 2-7 pm Informational Exhibit” participate in lunchtime discussions about current events in presentations 6-7 pm Students from Anthropology 214 a global context, with ethnic food provided. See page 2 for LA-200 (Native American Traditions) Film, “Ellis Island” (2003) details. This History Channel documentary, Thur. Apr. 14 using interviews from the Ellis Island Let us know how you and your colleagues bring some 1 – 2:30 pm Oral History Project, commemorates the LA-200 immigrant experience at what was global perspective into your coursework this year! • America’s busiest immigration processing center. 6

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

Where are you from?

by Mohammed Abbas (Biology)

Where are you from?

A simple question you most likely were asked many times and answered without any hesitation. That was my attitude until recent years, and that is when I started questioning the meaning and the purpose of the question. The simple question became a serious question with so many meanings and potentials. I remember the past where ignorance and pride combined with youth would readily answer the question without any thought about the motives behind the question. I never considered or associated a potential risk and harm based on my answer. I am the good person, raised by good, honest hard working parents, being from a large wonderful family of aunts and cousins, blessed with good friends with pure heart and very proud to answer the question of where are you from.

Today, my answer to the question of where are you from is met by a very bright red flag and hostile attitude. A series of questions rapidly processed by the brain neurons as to whom is this person asking me this question? What do I know about this person? What is the purpose of this person in asking me this question? Why is this person asking me this question at this particular time and under these circumstances? And each of these questions raises other questions leading to a state of unpleasant and uneasy response to what is considered to be a simple question. stand why you did not want to answer her I attended a week-long training session recently question. I did not tell anybody that I was Jewish and a group of us decided to have dinner together until I was over fifty years old because you do not one evening. During the dinner, one individual know who is listening.” asked me the question of where are you from. I gave a polite answer indicating that I lived the It is what it is. It is sad. It is unfortunate. It is majority of my life in this country. She became unhealthy. It is all of this and more when you are upset because that was not the answer she judged by the answer to the question of where are expected. Later that evening, I was on the hotel you from. It is more of a serious problem when elevator when another person from the dinner this question is posed by a member of your party joined me on the ride to our floor. During community and faith. the elevator ride, she apologized for the behavior of the person who asked me the question of where It is what it is. Take a look in the mirror. Where are you from. And she said, “I completely under- are you from? •

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 Jane Johnston Schoolcraft: An American Story

byy Karen Schaumann-Beltrán (Sociology) and Mark Harris (English)

Even before Malcolm Gladwell’s influential book Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), critics and historians recognized the importance of people who live on the edges of society. Indeed, it can be argued that all artists are fringe dwellers, inhabiting the corners of culture. Their perspectives help those of us in the middle of a society to understand our culture, and ourselves, better.

It is difficult to imagine someone who might be perceived as more of an outlier than Jane Johnston Schoolcraft. She was born of Ojibwe and Scotch-Irish parents in Sault Ste. Marie in 1800, 35 years before Michigan became a state. In her early 20’s she married Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, U.S. Indian Agent to the Michigan Territory, who was posted at Fort Brady in Sault Ste. Marie. It was within this rich cultural broth, at the edge of multiple frontiers, that Jane’s intellect and artistic sensibility thrived.

As a writer both in English and Ojibwe, Jane would produce an impressive body of work, rivaling that of other early American authors. While it has taken over 150 years for her writings to receive adequate recognition, she represents several important firsts in U.S. cultural history: she was the first known Indian woman literary writer, the first known Indian poet, the Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (January 31, 1800 – May 22, 1842) first poet to write in a Native American language, and the first Also known as Baamewaawaagizhigokwe (“Woman of the Native American to record traditional stories. Her poetry is Sound the Stars Make Rushing through the Sky”) moving, and reflects her love both for Henry and for the Ojibwe people.

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft’s attempts to negotiate the acterize this region. The city remained heavily under French changing cultural landscape— eloquently described in her influence, as evidenced by its name, until the British took over poetry— foreshadow the struggles that would unfold on the the area in 1763. North American continent for generations to come. Méétis (mixed) families were initially predominant in the Sault Ste. Marie in the Early 1800s Sault and Mackinac areas. This frontier society was populated by European men (primarily French) paired with The place of Sault Ste. Marie in Native American culture Ojibwe/Chippewa women. As one American visitor observed in has been prominent, as it occupies a strategic location at the 1831, “…most of the white inhabitants here have Indian wives. rapids of the St. Mary’s River. It was known as “The Gathering There are no young ladies excepting those which are half Place” to the Ojibwe and other native peoples of the region. The Chippeway” (Houghton, p. 479). Ojibwe are part of the historic “Three Fires” of Michigan, who collectively call themselves “Annishinabe”: the Odawa Jane’s family reflected this diverse cultural mixing in many (Ottawa), Pottawattamie, and Ojibwe (Chippewa). ways. Her mother, Ozhaguscodaywayquay (Woman of the Green Valley), was the daughter of Waub Ojeeg (White Fisher), By the time of Jane’s birth, Sault Ste. Marie was a cultural a powerful Ojibwe sakom (chief) and warrior, who was also crossroads. In addition to its indigenous culture, there were known for his peacetime leadership and skill in storytelling and overlays of French and British cultures. These in turn would be song. On her mother’s side, therefore, Jane represents the strong blended with the emergent U.S. culture when the border between native culture that existed in Sault Ste. Marie long before the the Michigan territory and the British province of Upper Canada French arrived. was established in 1817. Jane’s father, John Johnston, was a Protestant of Scotch- The French had built a trading post in Sault Ste. Marie in Irish descent, born in what is now Northern Ireland in 1762. He 1665. Father Marquette founded a religious mission there three came to North America in 1790, seeking to establish himself as years later, deepening the inter-cultural contact that would char- one of the voyageurs, the fur traders who travelled the 8

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 continent’s interior by canoe. Johnston made his way to the Chequamegon area of Wisconsin, where he met and soon married Ozhaguscodaywayquay, known as Susan. The couple settled in Sault Ste. Marie in 1793 and eventually had eight children. Their union demonstrates the multicultural flavor of late 18th-Century North America.

It was Susan’s family’s influence that helped establish Johnston as a successful trader. In Ojibwe culture, women are traditionally respected and considered equals, and not subject to separate spheres and relegated or restricted to the house. Although Susan spoke only Ojibwe throughout her life, the busy Johnston home was a hub of activity in both the Native and Anglo-European worlds. The Johnstons’ successful trade operation was based on their presence in these multiple cultures. Susan would take over the business after John’s death in 1828; she was, like her father, known for fairness and kindness.

A somewhat sickly child, Jane was schooled at home by her father John, as well as abroad in Ireland by her father’s relations. A restored portion of the historic home of John and Susan John Johnston’s extensive library was the marvel of all who Johnston in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, where Jane Johnston Schoolcraft lived during 1800-1825, the last two of those visited the home, and a great asset to his eight children’s years with her new husband, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. Tours education, in which he took special interest. Jane made full are offered by the Chippewa County Historical Society (tel. advantage of the library. In 1815, however, when she was still a 906- 635-7082). young woman, U.S. troops burned the Johnstons’ home and Photo: Robert Dale Parker, 2004. Used with permission. business in reprisal for John’s support of British causes, notably the British capture of Fort Mackinac from the Americans.

Jane, Henry, and Their Collaboration Jane and Henry also shared a love of literature and Indian

folklore. The contribution that Jane made, through her In some ways, the Schoolcrafts’ marriage re-enacted that of knowledge of Ojibwe legend and history, to Henry’s Jane’s parents. groundbreaking ethnography of native tales, traditions, and oral

histories was overlooked until recently. Her assistance in Originally from New York State, Henry Schoolcraft had preserving Ojibwe folklore for future generations was struck out for the territories to make his fortune, like many invaluable, and her writing continues to act as source material young men of the day. As the first Michigan Territorial Indian for tribal historians and other scholars. Her work immortalized Agent he would be part of an early Euro-American hierarchy, frontier-era life in Michigan and the clash of two world views. but upon his arrival he had little background or social standing in what was to become Michigan. Gaining access to the regional During their years together the Schoolcrafts collaborated on indigenous community through Jane and her family was highly a number of literary journals, which included many of Jane’s beneficial to his career as an Indian Agent. He began to learn the poems and essays. She often wrote under pen-names such as Ojibwe language from Jane, which opened up a whole native “Rose” or “Leelinau” (the second was the source in naming a culture to his close observation and positioned him to become Michigan county). One of these journals was a handwritten, the first American ethnographer. informally circulated magazine called The Literary Voyager, or,

Muzzeniegun, produced by the Schoolcrafts during 1826-7. The While it might seem presumptuous to talk of love at first magazine made its way from Sault St. Marie to Detroit and New sight, it was clear that Henry was taken with Jane from the start. York, and copies can be found today in the Bentley Historical He wrote, “When I first saw her in 1820, her refinement, taste, Library, University of Michigan. propriety of manners, purity and delicacy of language, and correctness of sentiment were such as few females in any rank or Oral traditions are at the core of native identity, education, station possess…”. In 1823 Henry and Jane married and soon and history. The tradition of encapsulating a lesson for oral had their first child, William Henry. retelling is exemplified in the origin tales of Native Americans,

which are also known as pourquois stories, literally “why” Their affection was genuine and is evident in their stories. The pourquois stories are perhaps best thought of as correspondence, which is included in Robert Dale Parker’s imaginative teaching instruments, comparable to Aesop’s fables. engaging biography of Jane. Henry, who frequently traveled to Jane Johnston Schoolcraft recorded many of these, such as “The Detroit, Washington, and other locations as part of his Indian Origin of the Robin”. The latter features the traditional fast that a Agent duties, sent Jane sweet (but bad) poetry while away. young person takes to create a connection with their animal Tragically, their infant son William Henry died from an spirit helper, and warns of the dangers of being too ambitious or unknown illness, and then their second child was stillborn. They seeking unearned honors. eventually had two more children, who grew to adulthood but continued on page 11 never bore children of their own. 9

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 The Schoolcrafts at Schoolcraft College

Our College, which is named after Henry Rowe As several of us from a variety of approaches— Schoolcraft, has supported scholarship on Jane Johnston, and literary, sociological, historical— began to learn more this is an example of the inclusiveness of the institution. about Jane Johnston and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, we were surprised to learn that Jane was not listed in the Michigan Faculty members have begun using the complex Women’s Hall of Fame. Clearly both their works and lives relationship between the Schoolcrafts, and between the are important features of early Michigan history, and their cultures they represent, as a lens through which to examine marriage represents well both the indigenous and important themes involving cultural identity, gender, history, European-influenced cultures of the Great Lakes and literary genre studies, and racial ideologies and their impact on Upper Midwest region. In October 2008, the Michigan social and political relations. These themes cut across Women’s Hall of Fame reached out across time and boundaries of courses and disciplines, and have even cultures to honor Jane by inducting her and placing her influenced extra-curricular activities through the Native plaque on display at their center in Lansing (see American Cultural Club (NACC), for which we serve as http://hall.michiganwomen.org). Although the Hall of Fame faculty sponsors. nomination originated at Schoolcraft College, we relied heavily on the vigorous research by Robert Dale Parker, On Nov. 27, 2007, the NACC sponsored “Henry Rowe which had played the leading role in bringing attention to Schoolcraft: the Myth, the Man… and the Woman Behind Jane’s work. This was a wonderful opportunity for students Him”, a discussion of the life and works of Jane Johnston and and faculty not only to learn about Michigan history, but to her influence on Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. It featured honor Jane and to be of service to the College and to the presentations by faculty and students on the life and work of native community. the Schooolcrafts, including a photo essay on Elmwood, the couple’s first home. There were also recitations of Jane’s The questions concentrated by the Schoolcrafts writings in the original Ojibwe by Dr. Margaret Noori, who motivated a panel presentation, “Vibrant Connections: teaches Native American language and literature at the Univ. Building Thematic Bridges Across Disciplines”, during of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University. (Dr. Noori’s Faculty Professional Development Days in Aug. 2009. The Ojibwe performance of Jane’s song “Thinking” is available at presenters were Sam Hays (English), Jessica Worden- http://www.umich.edu/~ojibwe/songs/nindinendam.html). Ballard (Anthropology), and the two of us. In Winter 2010, Continuing Education hosted a well-attended On Nov. 14, 2008, Robert Dale Parker, whose critical and “Conversation and Coffee” mini-course on Jane Johnston historical biography will be the basis for studying Jane Schoolcraft, which the two of us organized based on Johnston Schoolcraft and her work for many years to come, Parker's book. spoke to a group of College faculty, staff, and students in a program recorded by Media Services. Dr. Parker enchanted In 2011, we anticipate growing interest in the the audience with Jane’s life, discussing the importance of her Schoolcrafts, especially Jane, as the International Institute turns its focus to North America and as the College literary collaboration with Henry, their contributions to th American literature, and her relationship with her family. He celebrates its 50 anniversary. Few figures— literary or also read a number of Jane’s poems. The audience asked historical— represent the fusion of indigenous and questions for more than half an hour, and many lined up immigrant cultures better than does Jane Johnston Schoolcraft. afterward for a book signing. Local Native American women sang Annishinabe kwe (“Ojibwe Woman”) as a tribute to Jane. — Karen Schaumann-Beltrán and Mark Harris

Instructors Meg Noori and Jessica Worden-Ballard (front center, left to right) and Karen Schaumann-Beltrán (rear, far right) with NACC club members at the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Jane Johnston Schoolcraft in 2008.

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft continued from page 9 intermarriage fell out of favor. As fur and trading companies Jane’s short story, “Mishosha, or the Magician and His began forbidding such marriages to their employees, new Daughters”, which appeared in The Literary Voyager, represents expectations emerged, and racial polarization increased. a very effective retelling of a traditional Ojibwe tale meant for Multiple stresses made their force known in the Schoolcraft entertainment as well as education. Jane’s version, which helped marriage. convey native values and beliefs to an English-speaking audience, was among the first works to be attributed to her and While travelling in Europe, Henry heard that his wife had began appearing in anthologies of early American literature in died. He sent a letter to his children and then continued his trip the late 1980s. for several more months. An excerpt of Henry’s letter to his children at their respective eastern boarding schools notifying Literature based on native oral traditions captured the them of the death of their mother hints of his and American imagination of early Americans, and helped them to understand society’s changing sentiments about the “race of redmen”: the cultures of those they were displacing. Literary figures of the time were also influenced by the stories, as exemplified by Reflect that your mother herself, had not the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was inspired by the advantage of a mother (in the refined sense of the Schoolcrafts’ work to compose his epic poem, “The Song of term) to bring her up, that her education and manners Hiawatha”. were, in a great measure formed by her father, and that she had many and peculiar trials to encounter on Jane’s Life and Poetry coming into the broad and mixed circle of society (as quoted in Sisson et al., pp. 23-24). Jane’s experiences and her musings about life found their way into her writing. She led a stressful existence marked by It is principally through the works of Henry R. Schoolcraft poor health, the loss of her first two children, and the lengthy that we are able to learn about Jane and hear her voice. The absences of her husband due to his work. incredibly searching and thorough research by Robert Dale Parker (English Dept., University of Illinois, Urbana) brought to Other strains resulted from the conflicting interests of light many documents that had previously been hidden away or Indians and settlers, conflicts in which Henry R. Schoolcraft was overlooked. His carefully crafted biography of Jane Johnston a principal actor. For example, at one point Henry invested some Schoolcraft earned a Library of Michigan 2008 Notable Book of his own holdings and some of the Johnstons’ funds in land Award. Parker’s work provides a shining example of the kind of and housing in Detroit at exactly the wrong time; when the land solid research that is the underpinning of academia; it offers a bubble burst and prices tumbled, most of the investment was fair and balanced, as well as historically accurate, depiction of lost. This was bad news for Henry and for his in-laws, but good Jane and Henry’s relationship. The volume is an interesting news for the Ojibwe and other Michigan tribes, since the entry point into early American history and literature, and more collapse of the land market halted Indian removals for a time. riveting than any soap opera! • The conflicting sentiments experienced by Jane were poured into her writing. Though she did not intend to publish her musings, References they provide an insight into the struggles she must have been enduring. Houghton, Douglass, letter to Richard Houghton, 15 June 1831, “Trip to Sault Ste. Marie, 1831”, ed. Philip P. Lines Written at Castle Island, Lake Superior Mason, Michigan History 39:4 (Dec. 1955), pp. 474- 480.

Here in my native inland sea Parker, Robert Dale, The Sound the Stars Make Rushing From pain and sickness would I flee Through the Sky: The Writings of Jane Johnston And from its shores and island bright Schoolcraft (Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, Gather a store of sweet delight. 2007).

Lone island of the saltless sea! Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Cultural Division, “Sault How wide, how sweet, how fresh and free Tribe History” (2005). Available at How all transporting—is the view http://www.saulttribe.com/index.php?Itemid=205&id=29 &option=com_content&task=view. Of rocks and skies and waters blue Uniting, as a song’s sweet strains Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, and Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, To tell, here nature only reigns. The Literary Voyager, or, Muzzeniegun, ed. Philip P. Ah, nature! here forever sway Mason (East Lansing: Michigan State Univ. Press, Far from the haunts of men away 1962). Also available online at http://www.archive.org/details/literaryvoyagero007558m For here, there are no sordid fears, bp. No crimes, no misery, no tears No pride of wealth; the heart to fill, Sisson, Richard, and Christian K. Zacher and Andrew Robert Lee Cayton, The American Midwest: An No laws to treat my people ill. Interpretive Encyclopedia (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 2006). With increased European settlement, the political and cultural landscape in North America shifted and the practice of 11

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 Hidden in Plain View: Africans in American History

by Randy K. Schwartz (Editor)

The position of African people in the history of North America— both their contributions and their oppression— is deeply woven into the social fabric. Some of the threads are so deep that they might seem invisible: they are “hidden in plain view”. Teasing out such threads presents us with a rich educational opportunity, especially in this year that marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

In 1999, historians Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard published a fascinating book, Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad. It details their theory that historical quilt patterns often contained encoded messages to help fugitive African slaves navigate escape routes from the American South up to Canada. For example, the row of triangles known as a “Flying Geese” quilt pattern was an instruction for slaves to head north in the Spring Teresa R. Kemp of the Underground Railroad or Summer. The “Drunkard’s Path” design encouraged slaves Secret Quilt Code Museum in Atlanta, GA. to follow a zigzag route; according to traditional African belief, evil always travels in a straight line. There are Underground Railroad Secret Quilt Code Museums in Atlanta, GA and Columbus, OH (http://www.plantationquilts.com). A traveling lutionary War story, was meant as a manifesto against exhibit from the Columbus museum was on display at the slavery and for the preservation of the Union as a bastion of Plymouth, MI Historical Society Museum in 2007. A local freedom. Longfellow published this poem in 1860 as the symposium on the Underground Railroad will be held on Feb. storm clouds of the Civil War were gathering. By then he 26 (see calendar, p. 18) was already an accomplished abolitionist writer, and his best friend was Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, a Other intriguing examples of the “hidden in plain view” leader of the Radical Republican anti-slavery faction. phenomenon: • The African struggle for freedom has left a profound legacy • Ten years ago, Oregon public official Thomas DeWolf in American song, starting with spirituals, blues, and work discovered that he is related to the most successful slave- songs. In some cases the meanings are obvious, as in “No trading family in U.S. history, responsible for transporting More Auction Block” or “John Brown’s Body”. Many at least 10,000 Africans to America and the Caribbean scholars believe that spirituals such as “Steal Away to between 1769 and 1820. He and several relatives journeyed Jesus” and “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” were hidden through New England, Ghana, and Cuba to piece together messages for slaves to flee from their masters. It is a fact information about the slave enterprise, which was based in that Southern slave owners, except in New Orleans, banned Bristol, RI. The resulting book, Inheriting the Trade: A the use of drums in their slaves’ music-making because they Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave- feared that slaves would use the drums to communicate with Trading Dynasty in U.S. History (2008), is the Pageturners one another in an uprising. An article in the On Religion Book Club selection for Campus Read this month. In column of the New York Times on November 20 revealed addition to book discussions, Pageturners has also scheduled that the song “Kumbaya”, nowadays associated with sappy a Meet the Author event and a screening of the companion 1960s pacifism from white folkies, is actually an African film produced by DeWolf’s cousin, Katrina Browne (see American cry for freedom that originated on the Georgia Schedule on page 6). and South Carolina seacoast in the 1920s or earlier. In the

Gullah accents of the area, the phrase kumbaya, my lawd • Some of the most telling episodes in U.S. history have was an appeal for God to come by here, my Lord, to lend the almost disappeared under our feet. The point where Wall people a helping hand, or as Samuel G. Freedman Street meets the East River in Manhattan was once the site summarized it in his article, “for divine intervention on of the city’s Slave Market, established in 1711 as a place behalf of the oppressed… blacks suffering under the Jim where Africans and Native Americans could be hired or Crow regime of lynch mobs and sharecropping.” bought outright. And in Philadelphia, once the nation’s capital, just footsteps away from the Liberty Bell Center is • Thousands of all-white towns called “sundown towns” were the razed site of the house where President and Mrs. George established in the U.S. between 1890 and 1968. These were Washington lived in the 1790’s along with 9 African slaves, places, such as Wyandotte, MI, where no Black person was which they took with them from among the more than 200 allowed to settle, and where even a Black traveler would not slaves at their Mt. Vernon, VA estate. wish to be found after dark. Sociologist James W. Loewen

has investigated this trend in his Sundown Towns: A Hidden • “Paul Revere’s Ride”, the most famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and traditionally taught as a Revo- continued on next page 12

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 Individualistic vs. Collectivist: A Cultural Difference

by Padmaja Nandigama (Psychology) Behavior: The main attribute of individualistic cultures is idiocentrism. People here consider themselves to be autonomous, independent of groups, and believe that they can This article will look into the differences between do whatever they want— even confrontation is okay. Western and Eastern cultures. Culture is composed of Collectivist societies are allocentric, where group harmony behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values and traditions shared by a takes precedence over personal needs. People in these group. When two societies exhibit large differences in societies are self-restrained, value self-sacrifice, and tend to culture, this carries implications in terms of the social be obedient to elders (Triandis, 2001). problems and social development characterizing those societies. Consequences: These differences in attitudes result in differences in behavior. Individualistic communities tend to A society where one values independence and individual exhibit much creativity, achievement, affluence, and achievements more than the society as a whole is called an modernity. However, the competition leads to individual individualistic society. Examples of individualistic societies insecurity and over-concern to be number one, resulting in are the United States and Canada, the countries of Northern high rates of loneliness, mental illness, and social problems and Western Europe, and Australia. If, instead, a group such as drug abuse, crime, teen pregnancy, divorce, identity is favored, then the culture is described as a depression, and anxiety. On the other hand, collectivist collectivist society. Examples of collectivist societies include societies have low rates of divorce, teen pregnancy, and most of the countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the crime. However, they exhibit less economic dynamism, Middle East. invention, and achievement. Competition tends to take more of a group form, and this can lead to various types of Individualism and collectivism can be compared on communal warfare (Triandis, 1995). • different constructs such as values, social systems, morality, religion, cognitive differentiation, economic development, References and modernity and cultural patterns. While people in the Western (individualistic) cultures value independence, follow Triandis, Harry Charalambos, Individualism and their own conscience, and always seek to discover and Collectivism (Boulder, CO: Westview Press,1995). develop their strengths, people in Asian-African (collectivist) Triandis, Harry Charalambos, “Individualism- cultures are interdependent, give priority to obedience, and Collectivism and Personality”, Journal of Personality feel a responsibility to the group (Triandis, 2001). 69:6 (Dec. 2001), p. 907.

Antecedents of culture: Many aspects of the culture of individualistic societies seem to be rooted in the ancient mode Hidden in Plain View continued from page 12 of hunting and gathering. A hunter often moved alone in the Dimension of American Racism (2005). Several more of forests, surviving independently. As hunting groups, people his books are also suitable for classroom use, including often migrated from place to place, found new lands, the much-reprinted Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything discovered technology, and prospered. With modern Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong (1995). affluence, urbanization, and exposure to mass media, people in individualistic societies often showed symptoms of • To locate hotels, eateries, and other accommodations that loneliness and emotional detachment from society. On the would serve them, Black motorists relied on special other hand, the culture of collectivist societies seems largely manuals that were all but unknown to white people, with rooted in the agricultural mode, in which people live in names such as The Negro Motorist Green Book (New settled, close-knit groups. Family integrity is given primary York, 1936-1966) and Travelguide: Vacation and importance, and the behavior of an individual is regulated by Recreation Without Humiliation (New York, 1946-1955). the norms of the group. There is a distinct hierarchy within A fascinating source of such information is The Road to the in-group where elders in the group are respected for their Civil Rights, a 252-page report that Richard F. Weingroff age (Triandis, 1995). prepared for the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s “Highway History” website (available in full at Family Structure: Individualist societies are based on nuclear http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/road/s00.cfm); see families, and personal goals take primacy over in-group especially Chapter 18, “The Family Vacation”. The report goals. Behavior is regulated by personal attitudes and cost- begins with a chilling quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, benefit analysis. By contrast, collectivist families are large or Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (April 16, 1963): extended families, which typically consist of father, mother, Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the and children, and also grandparents, aunts and uncles, stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But cousins, and wives and children of the married sons. Both when… you take a cross country drive and find it men and women are expected to contribute to the necessary to sleep night after night in the maintenance of the family. Hierarchy and harmony within the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because group is seen where people are respected for their age and no motel will accept you… then you will experience. understand why we find it difficult to wait.

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 “Bridging Barriers” Launches Campus Diversity Programming

by Helen Ditouras (English)

A few years ago, a conversation arose within the International Institute about the split between multicultural education and pedagogies of diversity. I was surprised to discover that this division has been a point of deliberation for several community colleges within the Midwest Institute, according to MIIIE coordinator, Theo Sypris. Some community colleges choose to combine their multicultural/international programs with diversity committees, whereas others, like Macomb Community College or Oakland Community College, have separate programs that address these two similar, but sometimes overlapping or conflicting, agendas.

In the years that I have been involved with the Schoolcraft College International Institute, we have seen a wide range of programming that has at times included more diversity/multicultural issues than success, with student and faculty attendance at the international/global ones. In 2006, the SCII hosted a 100-200 level throughout the 5 hours of continuous day of presentations by Dr. Scott Ellsworth that focused programming. Later that semester, Elizabeth Grace most specifically on the Tulsa race riot of 1921, which and I successfully applied for a SC Foundation grant to is believed to be the worst incident of racial violence in secure institutional support for MLK Day and other U.S. history. A year later, the SCII hosted a Bridging Barriers programs for the academic year presentation on the Ku Klux Klan delivered by 2010-11. reformed KKK member, Floyd Cochran. This controversial lecture was highly attended by both The U.S. Social Forum (USSF), which took place faculty and students, who like many others, support the in Detroit in June 2010, was a great impetus for further need to re-address the issue of racism in present-day ideas and networking. This week-long forum of America. education and activism on diversity and social justice issues attracted several SCII and Bridging Barriers Influenced by this, several SCII members began members. A few months later, Tom Costello, President discussing the need to institutionalize Dr. Martin Luther and CEO of Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and King, Jr., Day at the College to ensure that Inclusion, whom I had met at USSF, contacted me and commemorative programming would be available every invited Schoolcraft College and Bridging Barriers to year for faculty and students. With the support of Dean host a talk by anti-racist activist and educator, Tim Cheryl Hawkins, a group of us formed Bridging Wise. His extraordinary presentation, “Color-Blind: Barriers as an ad hoc committee for this purpose and, The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from more broadly, to address the needs of diversity on Racial Equality”, drew more than 400 people on the campus. Those involved included myself, Sam Hays, evening of October 6, 2010. The event was fully Karen Schaumann, Diane O’Connell, and Lisa Jackson supported by SC faculty, Dean Cheryl Hawkins, and from SCII, along with faculty members Elizabeth Grace President Conway Jeffress. It helped define the kinds and Anthony Bacon and student Olivia Mensah. of future projects that Bridging Barriers might potentially sponsor. The first task carried out by Bridging Barriers was to develop MLK Day events for Winter 2010, which Since its inception, Bridging Barriers, with the included the documentary “Mighty Times: The support of Josselyn Moore and the SCII, has been Children’s March”, a student panel discussion, student active in supporting issues of diversity on campus. slideshows, a keynote address by Dr. Ron Woods from Other events that the group has organized include: Eastern Michigan University, a beautiful art exhibit by Anthony Bacon, and a lively Poetry Slam that wrapped • the screening of “Blueprint America: up the day. This inaugural event was a wonderful Beyond the Motor City”, followed by a

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 Q&A for students and faculty, moderated by myself and Mark Huston

• the screening of “The Water Front”, a documentary depicting the plight of Highland Park, MI residents in a battle against water privatization, followed by a Q&A led by Diane O’Connell

• a follow-up presentation by Dr. Ann Rall and members of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization entitled “Linking the Struggles: Water as a Human Right to be Held in the Public Commons”

• a workshop by members of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Project, co- sponsored by the SC Transition Center. Discover Europe, May 16-27, 2011

Now, in Winter 2011, Bridging Barriers is looking forward to another year of exciting opportunities. MLK This 12-day educational tour is offered to all Day, which will be hosted in room MC-200 of the Schoolcraft students, faculty and staff, as McDowell Center on January 17, will include: well as to your families and friends. It is not sponsored by the College, but is organized • a Poverty Simulation from 10:00am- by Foreign Languages Prof. Anita Süess 1:00pm, involving students from Mark Kaushik and led by Explorica. Huston’s Ethics class and a few additional Honors students • Germany (Berlin and Dresden)

• an exhibit of student artwork in • Czech Republic (Prague) commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, • Poland (Krakow and Auschwitz) Jr. and social justice • Slovakia (transfer) • Hungary (Budapest) • an energy-filled Poetry Slam from 2:00pm- • Austria (Eisenstadt and Vienna). 3:00pm, involving student and faculty poets. COST: In addition, Bridging Barriers and SCII are excited to ¾ Travelers under 23 years: $2,615.00 partner up with Pageturners to bring writer and educator ¾ Thomas DeWolf to campus for a meet-the-author event on Travelers 23 and above: $3,040.00 Feb. 2, 2011. Mr. DeWolf will discuss his fascinating Includes round-trip airfare, all memoir, Inheriting the Trade, which reveals his personal transportation, sightseeing tours and journey to uncover his family’s slave-trading legacy (see admission to all sites, all hotels with Schedule on page 6). In conjunction with his presentation, private bathroom, complete European Student Activities is sponsoring a fascinating exhibit from breakfast and dinner daily, full-time Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion entitled bilingual tour director. “We Don’t Want Them: Race and Housing in All-inclusive insurance available. (Schedule, Metropolitan Detroit”, on display Jan. 24 – Feb. 4 in itinerary, and prices are subject to change.) Lower Waterman (see calendar, page 17). • For more information, visit From a conversation initiated by members of the SCII http://www.anitasuess.com a few years ago, to the present day, Bridging Barriers has or call 734-462-4400 Ext. 5668. managed to make a modest but necessary mark on our campus. As the group begins to expand and evolve, we • Deadline to sign up without a late fee: very much look forward to future possibilities and the opportunity to partner with campus and off-campus February 6, 2011. organizations committed to diversity and education. •

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

Multicultural Events Calendar for SE Michigan

See also the schedule for Focus North America (page 6).

Sep. 24, 2010 – Feb. 28, 2011: “Art of the Masters: A Survey of Jan. 15, 2011: “The Gyil: From Village Tradition to World African American Images, 1980 – 2000”. Organized by the Instrument”. Performance and workshop by Bernard Woma, Michigan Chapter of the National Conference of Artists, this world-renowned xylophonist and African musician. 8 - 10 pm, exhibit features works by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Varner Recital Hall, Oakland Univ., Rochester. For more info, Jon Onye Lockard, Aaron Ibn Pori-Pitts, and many more local contact Mark Stone at 248-370-2044 or [email protected]. and international artists. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 East Warren Ave., Detroit. For Jan. 17 – May 29, 2011: “Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise: An more info, see http://www.chwmuseum.org. Artist’s Journey”. Loosely based on Dante’s Divine Comedy but with Aunt Jemima and Sojourner Truth as her guides, Nov. 6, 2010 - Feb. 27, 2011: “George Washington Carver”. visual artist Gale Fulton Ross depicts her journey from Discover the life and work of an extraordinary man (c. 1860- confusion and despair to self-forgiveness, enlightenment, and 1943), born into slavery, who became a trail-blazing economic artistic freedom. Charles H. Wright Museum of African botanist and humanitarian. Organized by the Field Museum American History, 315 East Warren Ave., Detroit. For more (Chicago) and Tuskegee University (Alabama), this touring info, see http://www.chwmuseum.org. exhibit includes artifacts, photography and film, plant models, and hands-on activities. The Henry Ford, 20900 Oakwood Jan. 19, 2011: Pierre Englebert, Pomona College, “Whose Blvd., Dearborn. For more info, call 800-835-5237 or see Borders Are They? The Case Against the African State". A http://www.thehenryford.org/events/carverExhibit.aspx. discussion of the origins, nature, and consequences of international boundaries in modern Africa, focusing on the Nov. 18, 2010 – Jun. 19, 2011: “The Test: Tuskegee Airmen arbitrary nature of borders in Africa and whether 'nation-states' Project”. This exhibit details the first African American remain useful as a central organizational scheme for the aviators in military combat in WW2, part of an effort by the modern globalized world. 7 - 8 pm, Banquet Room A, War Department to test whether African Americans had the Oakland Center, Oakland Univ., Rochester. For more info, capabilities to be effective combat aviators. Includes photos, contact Matt Fails at 248-370-2765 or [email protected]. models, maps, graphics, and the stories of the men, the aircraft, the maneuvers, and background information on race Jan. 19-23, 2011: “Night Blooming”. Filled with humor and relations in America. Charles H. Wright Museum of African warmth, this bittersweet drama by award-winning local American History, 315 East Warren Ave., Detroit. For more playwright Joseph Zettelmaier is the story of three generations info, see http://www.chwmuseum.org. of Arapaho women in the American Southwest. A woman on a journey to save her daughter’s life must re-examine everything Dec. 12, 2010 – Mar. 13, 2011: “A Day in the Warsaw Ghetto: A she knows about herself, her family, and a mother’s love. Birthday Trip in Hell”. This traveling exhibit is comprised of Sponberg Theatre, Eastern Michigan Univ., Ypsilanti. For 85 of the still photographs that Wehrmacht Sergeant Heinz ticket info, call 734-487-2282 or see Jost took illegally while wandering inside the Warsaw Ghetto www.emich.edu/emutheatre. on his birthday in November 1941. He hid the pictures for over 40 years until he knew that he was dying. Grouped into Jan. 20-23, 2011: Shen Yun Performing Arts. A concert of themes, the photos depict the diversity of conditions facing the traditional Chinese music and dance, performed by a nonprofit Jewish inhabitants, from illegal schools to book peddlers orchestra/ensemble based in New York. Detroit Opera House, plying their trade amidst death and disease. Holocaust 1526 Broadway, Detroit. For more info, call 313-961-3500 or Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus, 28123 Orchard see http://www.motopera.org. Lake Road, Farmington Hills. For more info, call 248-553- Jan. 21, 2011: Islamic Music Concert. Free performances by two 2400 or see http://www.holocaustcenter.org. renowned scholars of Islamic music, including Arab Dec. 17, 2010 – Apr. 11, 2011: “Framed Stories: The Art of instrumental music and recitation of an Arabic oral epic Carmen Cartiness Johnson and Jerome Wright”. These two tradition. Organized by the UM Center for World Performance contemporary African American artists, currently living in San Studies in conjunction with the Conference on Islam and the Antonio and Philadelphia, respectively, are largely self- Performing Arts (see Jan. 22, below). 8:30 - 9:30 pm. Keene trained, enjoy creating narrative art, and demonstrate Theater, Residential College, East Quad, 701 East University postmodern sensibilities. Charles H. Wright Museum of Ave., Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. African American History, 315 East Warren Ave., Detroit. For Jan. 22, 2011: Conference on Islam and the Performing Arts. more info, see http://www.chwmuseum.org. Eight scholars present papers on the Islamic performing arts in Jan. 12, 2011: Cameron Davis, U.S. Environmental Protection Africa, Egypt, and Southeast Asia. Organized by the UM Agency, “Knowing Our Place: The World’s Water and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. 9 am – 5 pm. Kuenzel Great Lakes” (UM Water Semester Kick-off Lecture). 5-6 pm. Room, Michigan Union, 530 S. State Street, Univ. of Hussey Room, Michigan League, 911 N. University Ave., Michigan, Ann Arbor. For more info, contact Shannon Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Bellefleur at 734-763-5408 or [email protected].

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

Global Thursdays

Global Thursdays is a multicultural series showcasing the finest in world music, dance, film, and performance art. Programs are at 7:30 pm, mostly on Thursdays, at the Arab-American National Museum (13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn). Supported by Comerica Bank, DTE Energy, Masco, and DoubleTree Hotel. For more info and for tickets, see http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/2011-Global- Thursdays-winter-spring.

Jan. 21, 2011 (FRIDAY):

Alberta Adams with the The Wailers bring their Jamaican reggae to Ann Arbor Feb. 9. RJ Spangler Trio (blues)

Jan. 24 – Feb. 4, 2011: “We Don’t Want Them: Race and Feb. 10, 2011: Housing in Metropolitan Detroit, 1900-1968”, a traveling Film, “Freedom Riders” and exhibit created by the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and panel discussion on the Civil Rights Era Inclusion. Each segment of the exhibit portrays a different Mar. 17, 2011: era in the struggle by African-Americans for affordable Simon Shaheen and Michel Merhej housing. 10 am – 5 pm. Conference Room, Lower Waterman (Arab classical and jazz) Center, Schoolcraft College, 18600 Haggerty Road, Livonia. Apr. 14, 2011: Jan. 25, 2011: Talk by Dr. Jack Shaheen, a respected critic of PechaKucha Night how U.S. mass media portray Arabs and Islam. 7:30 pm. (modern Japanese design) Ballroom A, Student Center, 900 Oakwood Street, Eastern Michigan Univ., Ypsilanti. May 12, 2011: Orquesta La Inspiracion Jan. 28, 2011: The Michigan Arab Orchestra presents a Night of (salsa and jazz). Tarab. 8 pm. Stamps Auditorium, Walgreen Drama Center,

1226 Murfin Ave., Univ. of Michigan North Campus, Ann

Arbor. For more info, contact Michael Ibrahim at tel. 586-354- 1576. University Musical Society

Jan. 29-30, 2011: “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story” Diverse cultures are reflected in the following (2010, directed by Peter Miller, 90 mins.). Detroit Film selections from the UMS season, scheduled at various Theatre at Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue, venues in Ann Arbor. For more info and for tickets, Detroit. For more info, see http://www.dia.org/dft. call 734-764-2538 or see http://www.ums.org. Feb. 1, 2011: The African Guitar Summit. This project of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation brings together nine Jan. 21 and 22, 2011: Grupo Corpo (Afro-Brazilian dance) Canadian guitarists whose origins are in Kenya, Ghana, Madagascar, Guinea, Rwanda, Mali, and Cameroon. All are Jan. 23, 2011: experts in their individual musical cultures, and together they Joanne Shenandoah create musical magic and rhythms that will warm a February (Native American singer-songwriter) night. 8 pm. The Ark, 316 S. Main Street, Ann Arbor. For more info, call 734-761-1800 or see http://www.theark.org. Jan. 30, 2011: “FELA!”, an Afrobeat musical, broadcast live Feb. 1 – Nov. 27, 2011: “The Heidelberg Project: Art, Energy, from the National Theatre, London and Community”. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, The 2 pm, Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor Heidelberg Project, founded by Tyree Guyton, uses art to “provoke thought, promote discussion, inspire action and heal Feb. 10, 2011: communities...” Guyton has used found objects to create a Blues at the Crossroads two-block area full of color, symbolism, and intrigue, (Robert Johnson centennial concert)

recognized as one of the most influential open-air art Feb. 23, 2011: environments in the world. Charles H. Wright Museum of Kodo (Japanese drums) African American History, 315 East Warren Ave., Detroit. For more info, see http://www.chwmuseum.org. Apr. 7, 2011: Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro de Cuba Feb. 9, 2011: The Wailers. A performance by Bob Marley’s old group— still Jamaican reggae legends. The anchor is bassist Apr. 16, 2011:

continued on next page Tony Allen’s Afrobeat Tour. 17

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 Multicultural Calendar continued from p. 17 Aston “Family Man” Barrett, who, in addition to being Bob Marley’s most trusted lieutenant, played on countless other classic reggae hits. 8 pm. The Ark, 316 S. Main Street, Ann Arbor. For more info, call 734-761-1800 or see http://www.theark.org.

Feb. 12, 2011: “Soundtrack for a Revolution” (2009, directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, 82 mins.). Tells the story of Schoolcraft the American civil rights movement through its music— the student Mital “freedom songs” performed on picket lines and in jail cells are Patel paints a brought to new and thrilling life. 4 pm. Detroit Film Theatre at guest’s hand Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. For with henna at more info, see http://www.dia.org/dft. last year’s Multicultural Feb. 15, 2011: Rajiv Chandrasekaran (senior correspondent and Fair. Get ready associate editor for the Washington Post), “The Longest War: for the tenth A Front-Line View of the U.S. Mission in Afghanistan”. annual Fair, Sponsored by UM Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies. coming this 4 - 5:30 pm. 1636 International Institute, School of Social March 31. Work Building, 1080 South University Ave., Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. For more info, contact [email protected] or tel. 734-764-0351. Photo: SC Marketing Dept.

Feb. 26. 2011: Underground Railroad Symposium, “Our Underground Railroad Story: The Descendents Speak of the al. This exhibition presents select items from his collection, River”. Featuring a panel of Railroad descendants and also including books such as a first edition of Phillis Wheatley’s former Detroit News columnist Betty DeRamus, whose book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), and Freedom by Any Means (2009) tells some of the most rare artifacts from Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., compelling stories of the Underground Railroad. Organized by and many others. Charles H. Wright Museum of African the Black Historic Sites Committee of the Detroit Historical American History, 315 East Warren Ave., Detroit. For more Society. 1-4 pm, Detroit Historical Museum, 5401 Woodward info, see http://www.chwmuseum.org. Avenue, Detroit. Mar. 16, 2011: Global Roundtables Symposium. Student Mar. 3, 2011: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This presentations and dialogue on the theme of world citizenship New York troupe was born in a March 1958 performance that and world disparities in the satisfaction of people’s basic forever changed the perception of American dance. Now, the needs for food, water, and shelter. 10 a.m. – 12 noon, DiPonio company is one of the most acclaimed international Room, VisTaTech Center, Schoolcraft College, 18600 ambassadors of American culture, promoting the uniqueness Haggerty Road, Livonia. For more info, contact Sandy Roney- of the African-American cultural experience.7:30 pm. Detroit Hays at [email protected] or 248-225-1035. Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit. For more info, call 313-961-3500 or see http://www.motopera.org. Mar. 16-19, 2011: Third Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival. Showcasing films about Palestine and by Palestinian directors Mar. 3 – Apr. 3, 2011: “The Piano Lesson”, August Wilson’s to amplify the voice of the Palestinian people as a nation and a powerful play set in 1936 Pittsburgh in the home of an African diaspora. Various venues; for more info, contact Lauren American family from Mississippi. The story centers around a Thams at [email protected]. piano that was once traded for two of their ancestors; Boy th Willie wants to sell it and make a new future, while Berniece Mar. 19-20, 2011: 39 annual “Dance for Mother Earth” clings tightly to the memories it engenders. Performance PowWow. Tribes gather from throughout the Midwest Network Theatre, 120 East Huron St., Ann Arbor. For ticket bringing their native music, dance, crafts, and food. Saline info, call 734-663-0681 or see http://performancenetwork.org/. Middle School Field House, 7265 Saline-Ann Arbor Road, Saline. For more info, see http://www.umich.edu/~powwow. Mar. 8, 2011: International Women’s Day Tea. The UN theme this year is that equal access to education, training, science Mar. 23, 2011: Historian Danielle McGuire (Wayne State Univ.) and technology is a pathway to decent work for women. Co- will speak about her recent book, At the Dark End of the sponsored by SC International Institute and the Transition Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance— A New History Center. 2:30-3:50 pm. Room LA-200, Liberal Arts Bldg., of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Schoolcraft College, 18600 Haggerty Road, Livonia. For more Black Power. 12 - 1:30 pm. Room TBA, Univ. of Michigan- info, contact Linda Gutierrez at [email protected] or tel. Dearborn. For more info, contact [email protected].

734-462-4400 extn. 5067. Mar. 23 – Apr. 3, 2011: Seventh annual Jewish Community

Mar. 11 – Nov. 6, 2011: “The Chris Webber Collection: Center Stephen Gottlieb Music Festival. An eclectic mix of Exceptional People During Extraordinary Times, 1755 – performers, from the flamenco-flavored David Broza to the Present”. Retired UM and NBA basketball star Chris Webber renowned composer and director Marvin Hamlisch, to jazz by is also an avid collector of African American historical materi- Amy Yassinger and the Yazzmen. Two venues, W. 18

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011 Bloomfield and Oak Park; for more info, see Early or mid-Jun. 2011: Sixth annual Chaldean Festival. A http://www.jccdet.org or tel. 248.432.5652. three-day celebration with food and merchant booths, live entertainment, carnival rides and games. Organized by the Mar. 31, 2011: Tenth annual Multicultural Fair, a vibrant Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. Southfield Civic celebration of the international cultures on our campus. Center, Southfield. Featuring country displays, cultural performances, demonstrations of languages and crafts, and international food. Mid-Jun. 2011: 16th annual Dearborn Arab International Festival. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., DiPonio Room, VisTaTech Center, This family-centered 14-block street fair is the largest Arab- Schoolcraft College, 18600 Haggerty Road, Livonia. For more American cultural celebration in the U.S., attracting over info, contact Laura Leshok at 734-462-4400 extn. 5203, or 300,000 people to see local and international musical acts, [email protected]. food booths, a Middle Eastern fashion show, arts and crafts, Arab merchandise, children’s tent, and a carnival. Presented Apr. 1-9, 2011: “Intimate Apparel”, an award-winning play by by the American Arab Chamber of Commerce and its partners. Lynn Nottage. Lyric and powerful, this story is a touching Warren Avenue between Schaefer and Wyoming, Dearborn. rendering of Esther, a black seamstress who seeks love and a For more info, see http://www.americanarab.com. better life in New York in 1905. Desperate to follow her heart but demanded to follow society’s rules, Esther fights for her Mid-Jul. 2011: 19th annual Concert of Colors, metro Detroit’s dreams as they are torn apart, stitched up and refashioned. free, multi-day diversity festival bringing together the area’s Sponberg Theatre, Eastern Michigan Univ., Ypsilanti. For communities and ethnic groups. Musical acts from around the ticket info, call 734-487-2282 or see world, ethnic food and merchandise, musician-led workshops, http://www.emich.edu/emutheatre. a Forum on Community, Culture & Race, and a large children’s tent. Organized by the Arab Community Center for Apr. 8-9, 2011: “The Color Purple”. A musical based on the Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), Arab American renowned Alice Walker novel and Steven Spielberg film. Fox National Museum, New Detroit Inc., and the Detroit Theatre, 2211 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. For more info, call Symphony Orchestra (DSO). Max M. Fisher Music Center, 313-471-6611 or see http://www.olympiaentertainment.com. 3711 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. For more info, see Apr. 8-17, 2011: “Kuroneko” (Black Cat) (1968, Japanese with http://www.concertofcolors.com. English subtitles, directed by Kaneto Shindo, 99 mins.). In Late Jul. 2011: 40th annual Arab and Chaldean Festival. The war-torn medieval Japan, a vicious demon haunts the Rajomon largest Arab-Chaldean-American cultural event in North Gate, ripping out the throats of samurai in the grove beyond. America, it draws over 50,000 people to enjoy a variety of Both a chilling ghost story and a meditation on the nature of Arab and Chaldean food, cultural exhibits, fashion show, war and social hypocrisy. Detroit Film Theatre at Detroit Children’s Fair, music, dance, and other entertainment. Hart Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. For more Plaza, downtown riverfront, Detroit. For more info, see info, see http://www.dia.org/dft. http://www.arabandchaldeanfestival.com. Apr. 15-24, 2011: “Le Quattro Volte” (The Four Times) (2010, Jul. 30 – Oct. 23, 2011: “Multiple Impressions: Contemporary Italy, directed by Michelangelo Frammartino [dialogue-free— Chinese Woodblock Prints”. This exhibit will present works no subtitles], 88 mins.). Traces the glorious cycle of life by by more than 30 leading printmakers from contemporary way of the rituals of rural folk in the Italian region of Calabria. China to showcase the extraordinary innovations, in both A visual and philosophical experience inspired by technique and conception, that have transformed this long- Pythagoras’s belief in four-fold transmigration of the soul. established artform in recent years. Univ. of Michigan Detroit Film Theatre at Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Museum of Art, 525 South State Street, Ann Arbor. For more Woodward Avenue, Detroit. For more info, see info, call 734-764-0395 or see http://www.umma.umich.edu/. http://www.dia.org/dft. Early Aug. 2011: LebFest 2011, the fifth annual Lebanese Apr. 29 – May 1, 2011: “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Festival. A celebration of Lebanese heritage and culture, Past Lives” (2010, Thai with English subtitles, directed by including art, cuisine, live entertainment, and family fun. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 113 mins.). A gently comic and Presented by the Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce transporting tale of death and rebirth, set in Thailand’s rural and its partners. Northville Town Square, Northville. For more northeast. A farmer suffering from kidney failure is tended to info, see http://www.lebanesefestival.org. by loved ones and visited by the ghosts of his wife and son. Detroit Film Theatre at Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Aug. 20-22, 2011: 29th annual African World Festival and Woodward Avenue, Detroit. For more info, see Caribbean Festival and Parade. Celebrate the richness, http://www.dia.org/dft. diversity, and worldwide influence of African culture at Detroit’s largest ethnic festival, which draws over 350,000 May 15-26, 2011: 13th annual Lenore Marwil Jewish Film visitors. Attractions include the Taste of Africa Pavilion, Festival. Jewish Community Campus, 6600 W. Maple Rd., acclaimed entertainment, strolling plaza performances, West Bloomfield (and other venues). For more info, contact African Family Village, the Diaspora Marketplace, and the Shari Lebo at tel. 248-432-5459 or [email protected]. Caribbean Parade. Presented by the Charles H. Wright June 2011: Carousel of Nations Multicultural Festival. Two days Museum of African American History. Hart Plaza, downtown of live music and dance performances from diverse world riverfront, Detroit. For more info, see cultures, plus short films, live-art displays, an artists’ village, a http://africanworlddetroit.com/. • kids’ zone, and authentic food. Windsor, ONT. For more info, see http://www.carouselofnations.com/. 19

Schoolcraft College International Institute International Agenda Vol. 10, No. 1 January 2011

New from Our Neighboring Schools

Danielle M. McGuire, Asst. Professor of History at UM’s Graham Institute, just mentioned, has also Wayne State University, is the author of At the Dark launched a new Integrative Experiential Learning and End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance— Research project at the 48,000-acre Mpala Refuge, a A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa wildlife conservancy and research center in Kenya. The Parks to the Rise of Black Power (Knopf, 2010). The aim is to help promote sustainable conservation in the book seeks to rewrite the history of the civil rights era by region, one of the most economically challenged and situating sexual violence in the broader context of racial biologically diverse areas of the world. Water is the key injustice and the fight for freedom. Rosa Parks’s name issue there, with both the wildlife and cattle-based appears in the title because in her early years, Parks economies confronted by severe drought and climate worked as an NAACP investigator in Montgomery, AL, change. The project is part of UM’s STEM-Africa specializing in cases involving black women who had Initiative, which coordinates research efforts in Science, been sexually assaulted by white men. While such rape Technology, Engineering, and Math with educational cases often didn’t even go to trial, McGuire traces the institutions in Africa. One class of hand-picked UM history of several that triggered vehement resistance by undergraduates will reside at the refuge each Summer to the NAACP and other groups, some of which resulted in learn first-hand both the social- and natural-science convictions. In conjunction with Women’s History aspects of sustainability. In addition, several graduate Month, Dr. McGuire will speak about her book at the students are conducting research into habitat University of Michigan-Dearborn on March 23 (see fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, cultural calendar, p. 18). perceptions of land use, and methods whereby the refuge might operate in a more sustainable fashion. • On October 28, 2009, FBI agents shot and killed Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah in a Dearborn warehouse. It was the first killing of a Muslim religious leader by the U.S. government. The short documentary Kudos “The Death of an Imam”, released in December, examines the news reporting associated with the The Asian Student Cultural Association, its shooting. It was produced by the “Islam, Muslims and faculty advisor Anna Maheshwari (English), and Journalism Education Project” at Michigan State Todd Stowell (Student Activities Office) led in University and was filmed by Geri Alumit Zeldes and organizing the successful Navratri Garba/Bhangra Salah Hassan of MSU and Brian J. Bowe of Grand celebration, held 7 p.m. – 12 midnight in the Valley State University. The film explores the issues at DiPonio Room on Saturday, Oct. 16. The Hindu the core of the incident: The allegations of a terrorism festival is traditionally held at the beginning of conspiracy, the use of FBI informants, and Muslims in autumn and celebrates the goddess Durga. This the mainstream media. was Schoolcraft’s fourth annual Navratri, with a new record of over 650 people arriving to Eastern Michigan University organized an experience the authentic live music, dance, International Week on Nov. 13-20. The eight days of costume, food, and a marketplace. The feature events included presentations on such topics as Eastern performers were the members of Sammvad, an music, world religions, advertising around the world, and orchestra that plays music for such traditional Peace Corps opportunities; poster displays on cultural Indian dances as garba, bhangra, dandia, and raas. differences, foreign exchanges, and doing business in 20 different countries; films such as “Amélie”, Todd Stowell (Student Activities Office) “Departures”, and “Crossing Borders”; a Quiz Bowl; and reports that an additional $300 or so was raised at more. For further details, visit http://www.emich.edu/iw/. Schoolcraft this past Fall for UNICEF’s The Agua Project (T.A.P.) at two events, School Daze and The global and local issue of water is the topic for a Make It – Take It. Students in a service-learning theme semester at the University of Michigan in Ann section of English 102 (English Composition 2) Arbor this Winter. “Global water shortage is rapidly taught by Helen Ditouras helped to raise funds for becoming one of the top environmental and societal st the project. For three years, students at the College problems of the 21 Century” said Manja Holland, a have been learning about and participating in research officer with the UM’s Graham Environmental various ways in this clean-water initiative, which Sustainability Institute and chair of the Water Theme provides bio-sand filters, assistance for family Semester Committee. “And, with recent oil spills in the relocations, and other sustainable measures to Gulf of Mexico and the Kalamazoo River, water is confront chronic water-supply problems and increasingly becoming top-of-mind as a fundamental resulting health hazards in Honduras and El sustainability issue” he added. To learn more about the Salvador. For more information on the project, see water semester, and to sign up for e-mail notifications International Agenda, Sep. 2009, p. 28, or visit about related activities, visit http://watersemester.com. http://tapproject.org.